The present invention relates to article vending and display racks, and in particular to newspaper vending racks that are easily transportable and provide a solid structure that can readily withstand extreme environmental conditions, as well as abuse.
The type of vending rack to which the present invention applies is disclosed in general in U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,923 with particular reference to a coin operated newspaper vending machine. In the past, newspaper racks of this type have been completely assembled at the place of manufacture and shipped in ready-to-use form, with the possible exception of, perhaps, the coin operated latch mechanism, which can be installed at the final destination. Typically, newspaper racks of this type stand approximately 3 to 31/2 feet high and have lateral dimensions of 11/2 to 2 feet. Moreover, coin operated racks of this type commonly have the coin operated mechanism housed within a coin receiving box mounted on the top of the rack. The presence of the coin receiving box, which is installed on the rack at the place of manufacture, inhibits easy stacking of the vending racks. Consequently, due to the volume of space occupied by each rack and the difficulties associated with stacking them, a standard shipment, i.e., truckload, of racks would number approximately only 250 racks.
Recently, the components of newspaper vending racks of this type are comprised primarily of plastic and aluminum, which results in each individual rack being of relatively light weight. For example, a standard shipment of 350 racks might weigh only 15,000 pounds. This weight is substantially less than the total weight capacity of most modern shipping vehicles, and consequently a truck carrying a load of racks would not be utilized most efficiently in terms of total transportable weight.
In addition to transportation considerations, fully assembled newspaper vending racks could require substantial storage space once they have reached the final destination. For example, a newspaper publisher may desire to keep a supply of racks on hand as replacements for racks that could become damaged or destroyed, for example due to vandalism. In such a case, the publisher would be required to rent storage area for the extra supply of racks, since a newspaper printing plant normally does not have a substantial amount of storage space available.
Newspaper vending racks of the type disclosed in the above-mentioned U.S. patent have met with a great deal of success, and it is the general object of the present invention to provide a novel improvement for these types of racks which will overcome the previously noted limitations regarding storage and transportation. More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel vending rack whose components can be easily assembled at the final utilization point for the racks with a minimal requirement for tools and man hours, thereby permitting the rack to be shipped in a knocked-down, i.e. disassembled, state. The ability to transport, and store, the rack in a disassembled form provides substantial savings in terms of space requirements, and hence cost.
Furthermore, the ability to ship the rack in less than a fully assembled state can provide additional significant cost savings for foreign importers of the rack. More specifically, when a newspaper vending rack is shipped to a foreign country in a fully assembled form, the importer is required to pay an import tax. If the rack is capable of being shipped in a disassembled form, with final assembly taking place within the country of final destination, the import tax imposed on the rack will be reduced from that encountered with fully assembled racks.
Furthermore, the handling of the racks is greatly simplified when they are in a disassembled state. Prior art racks that are fully assembled at the manufacturing plant are required to be handled individually. However, a knock-down type of rack can be packaged in its disassembled form and a plurality of packaged racks can be easily accommodated on a standard pallet, so that a number of racks can be easily handled with a single fork lift mechanism. The ability to transport the racks with a fork lift substantially reduces the number of man hours required in their handling.
The manner in which the present invention achieves these, as well as other, objects and advantages will be more fully appreciated from a perusal of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the accompanying drawings.